Chapter 10
Fox was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of the blue furred vixen sitting in the seat next to him, he now noticed that her, just longer than shoulder length hair, was fixed into a small tail which hung over her shoulder...at the moment her nervousness could be seen as she lightly kept tugging on the end of it. Katt had told her what to and not to do, but, for the most part she wasn't sure how she'd really act in the given situation...she only hoped that she wouldn't screw anything up, she had no clue that the exact same thoughts were going through Fox's mind at the time, she was far too distracted to read anything that was in his head, his defenses were hard enough to get through to begin with, and even then she was too afraid of what thoughts she might find there to delve any further. The cerulean furred vixen sighed a bit as she watched the scenery move by while their vehicle sped down the streets...
"Something wrong?" Fox asked, "You've been really quiet."
The blue furred beauty half chuckled, "I—I think I'm just still a little nervous." She said causing Fox to let out a sigh of relief.
"You think you're nervous?" Fox replied reaching for her paw and placing it on his forehead.
His fur was misty and the skin beneath was relatively damp from sweat, "You're sweating."
"Yeah...sorry..." He faked a short laughed releasing her paw.
Krystal chuckled a bit, "Do you always get like this?"
"Only when I'm around you..." Fox replied as they pulled around a corner, "I always find myself thinking about what I should say and keep myself from saying anything stupid. Fighting armies is easy...dating, that's hard."
Krystal thought to herself for a moment, "You don't need to impress me Fox...as long as you're yourself I'll have fun, I'm sure we both will." She said placing her paw on top of his.
With another sigh of undoubted relief Fox brought the vehicle to a stop, "Thanks Krystal. I"ll try to remember that. This is my first date in over six years so..."
"Well this is my first date ever...how do you think I feel right now?"
Fox slowly stepped out of the car and moved around to open Krystal's door helping her to her feet, "I guess you're just as nervous as I am right now." He replied, "Hopefully that'll pass as soon as we have something to eat. A brochure I read gave this place a hell of a review."
Krystal was amazed at the look of the place; it was so far one of the most elegant buildings she'd seen on the resort so far, it was much larger than any of the cottages, and the entire bottom floor's walls seemed to be all glass allowing the magnificent view of the bay to be seen by the many animals seated inside. The place must have been incredibly popular as they were forced to park some distance from the building. As they began to approach the place, Krystal moved up against Fox's side taking his paw in hers, hoping to settle both of their nerves, and to her surprise it seemed to work, as she could feel his sweaty palm was much dryer than it previously was. As they made their way toward the building Krystal's shoe caught a crack in the pavement causing her to fall forward, Fox made an attempt to catch her but, in what seemed like an instant the vixen sprung off of one paw flinging herself forward and upright back onto her feet. Fox stood there, not quite as dumbstruck as he was oddly aroused. Krystal turned to notice the stunned look on Fox's face...
"What?" She laughed.
"That...." He said in a low voice, "...was amazing."
Krystal smiled in reply, 'Well we spend so much time in space I think you've just forgotten everything else I'm capable of."
Fox followed after the athletic vixen, "Well...maybe we need to do more ground work. I don't think Falco 's had the pleasure of seeing what you can do."
"Well...maybe Falco should have a sparring match with me some day." Krystal smiled over her shoulder, "Wouldn't that be a surprise?"
Fox laughed out loud at the thought of what he was certain would seriously damage the blue falcon's ego. He could just see Krystal standing over the beaten bird, "You know what, I think we may just have to do that some time." Fox replied, "It'd teach him a little about strong women....and I think I'd enjoy watching him get his feathery ass handed to him."
As they approached the building the two vulpine stopped, "Wow. This place looks amazing."
"Yeah...it looks a lot bigger from up here." Fox agreed.
As the two finally approached the door Fox held it open allowing Krystal to walk inside smiling at him on her way by. Krystal was stunned by the look of the place, as was Fox; there was a large number of animals all seated in varying sized groups. The place carried a calm atmosphere, the light rumble of the crowds conversations. There was a small area that the two could hardly see from their place near where a small wooden podium sat with a small guest log. Fox and Krystal waited patiently for a few moments before they were met by a short, dark furred Manx...of course he was well dressed in a black tailored suit and a white undershirt...
"Good evening..." He said merrily while seating himself behind the small podium, "...and welcome. How can I help you tonight sir?"
"There should be a reservation for two under McCloud..."
The feline suddenly dropped his pen, "Oh....m-m-m-mister McCloud. I apologize I should have recognized you sooner."
"Forget about it..." Fox replied, "I'd just like to get to our table."
The Manx went over his list for a moment, "You say you have reservations?" He asked, "Your name is not on the list."
Fox looked to Krystal then back to the door man with a sigh...
The Manx grew incredibly nervous, how would he look for turning away the most famous fox in Lylat, "There must be a simple error in the log...please wait here and I will fetch the manager."
Fox sighed again after the feline was out of sight, Krystal could hear the frustration welling up in his voice, which only escalated as the doorman returned with a familiar looking wolf in step behind him. The wolf's arm was still bound in a cast and he seemed to have trouble walking a bit, but, for the most part he was still unmistakable as the one that had harassed Krystal on the ship. The blue vixen's attention was drawn by the sound of Fox's knuckles cracking as his fists clenched shut in anger...
"Krystal just...stay right here for a second okay?" He said walking off.
"Fox..."
"Don't worry about it..." The vulpine called back.
Krystal watched on as Fox approached the two animals, the wolf seemed to jerk away from Fox as soon as the vulpine was within arms length. Their conversation seemed to carry on for a few moments before Fox began to speak and suddenly the wolf's once cocky expression went incredibly sour. Within a few more moments Fox returned with the Manx doorman, Krystal looked a bit confused but for the most part the two acted like none of it had ever happened...
"Just forget about it..." Fox said as he took Krystal's paw leading her to follow the feline host, "It was just a misunderstanding."
As the Manx led the two vulpine across the room he looked over his shoulder, "I must apologize for Mister Disari's actions, he is the owner's son...and at the moment the true Mister Disari is out on business."
The Manx led the two to a small table for two positioned next to the glass wall of the building overlooking the bay, as the host seated the two Krystal seemed mesmerized by the view of the beach outside as the Sol would soon be setting. As Fox took his seat, the well dressed feline set a large red menu in front of them both...
"Is there a reason for his rejection of such a honored guest." The Manx thought for a moment, "I do not mean to intrude."
"Don't worry about it...He got rough with my friend." Fox answered looking to Krystal for a moment.
The feline host looked to Krystal who was still looking out at the ocean then mack to Fox, "So I take it his run in with you is the reason for his current...handicap." The cat looked around for a moment and moved in a bit closer, "To be honest he's always been a bit full of himself." In an instant the cat was back to his full upright posture and him mannerisms were normal once again. "Well then, I will return in a few moments to take your orders, would you like anything to drink?"
"Water is fine thank you....Um...."
"Charles..." The feline answered with a light bow, "I will return for your orders with your water."
As soon as the Manx was gone Fox's attention turned to the radiant blue vixen seated across from him, who was still seemingly entranced by the sights of the horizon which was now turning a dark red from Sol setting in the distance. While she sat there watching the horizon set ablaze, Fox could only watch her as the rays of Sol highlighted her already beautiful form in an almost ambient purple light. At first he found himself unable to look away from her, until she turned to face him, Krystal was confused as Fox now had his face buried in his menu even the top of his forehead was bright red with blush. She couldn't see what it was that was causing it but, she had always found his embarrassment to be incredibly cute. She tried her hardest to get a clear look at him from around the menu but, it always seemed to be in the way. Eventually she gave up and began to look through her own menu, a lot of the foods she wasn't very familiar with though, she was glad there were pictures with most of the dish names. After a short while Fox lay down his menu only to find Krystal smiling at him...
"What?" He scoffed.
For a moment she didn't reply, "You're still blushing."
The blue vixen began to laugh covering her muzzle, as Fox tried various methods to make himself stop blushing. As she continued to be entertained by Fox's bashful behavior, she could feel tears trickle down her cheeks from her laughter, which she was still trying her hardest to hide from everyone. As she wiped away her tears Krystal noticed Charles standing nearby smiling a bit at the sound of Krystal's happiness...
"You have a very infectious laugh miss." He said setting a large pitcher of water and two glasses on the table, "Have the two of you made up your minds yet."
Krystal held up her menu and pointed to a dish she'd found looked good, "I'll have one of these."
"Excellent choice miss...and Mister McCloud?"
Fox was startled for a moment, "Oh...sorry—um—house special sounds great."
The Manx thought for a moment, "Will that be all?"
"That's all for me." Fox replied.
"Me too." Krystal added cheerfully.
"Alright...I apologize if the meal takes time before it is brought out...we are currently running at a maximum capacity."
Fox smiled, this Manx must have had a love for his work, "That's fine...I'm sure we can find some way of entertaining ourselves until the food gets here."
The feline made not other comments as he made his way back toward the kitchen...unfortunately this made nothing any easier for the two vulpine sitting at their table. Fox had though telling Krystal how he felt would make things easier, but unfortunately being with her was no easier, he still had trouble doing anything, even saying anything to her. The blue vixen could sense that her companion for the night was still having some troubles talking with her but, she hoped she could calm his nerves...
"Now that the Aparoids are gone..." She started, "What do you think will happen with Corneria?"
Fox took a sip from his glass of water, "Not sure...The city still has a lot of repairs needed, and the Great Fox II was only just sanctioned by the military as payment for the mission. Peppy said he was able to lend the team a military ship...but..." He sighed looking a bit depressed.
"I know Fox." Krystal sympathized, "The Great Fox was your home."
"It's not only that..." Fox replied, "That ship...it...it was the last thing my father left to me when he died."
Krystal now felt a bit bad for even starting this conversation but, as Fox realized this he thought for a moment, "Forget about that though...it's in the past, right? My main concern right now is how long it's going to take before the Great Fox II is up and running...I know it'll be more than a month, hell it'll take several." The vulpine sighed.
"Peppy hasn't said anything about another mission anytime soon..." Krystal replied, but seemed to cut herself off.
"What?" Fox asked curiously.
Krystal kept her eyes on the glass in front of her, "I made a promise to myself when Cerinia was destroyed, to find out who was responsible...but, after I met you that all just became insignificant for some reason." As Krystal said this she realized that the conversation did not seem to be the proper talk for such an occasion as a date. Her eyes wandered for a moment until she saw a room that actually looked fun. Animals of all kinds were in a large room where they were all dancing. Krystal quickly stood up taking Fox by the paw and hoisting him out of his chair, "Come on. I don't wanna talk like this. This is supposed to be fun, right?"
Fox stumbled a bit as Krystal started to drag him off into another room where many animals were dancing closely, "Kry—Krystal, I can't dance."
Krystal laughed a bit as they stopped in the middle of the dance floor, "Of course you can...there's nothing wrong with it."
"No I mean literally "can't" dance." Fox assured her, "Remember my family died when I was little...nobody ever taught me."
Krystal didn't seem to take "no" for an answer however, as she pulled Fox over in front of her. She quickly took one of his paws placing on her waist while she placed hers on his shoulder. The curred position causing Fox's cheeks to set a blaze as Krystal's dress did almost nothing in covering her mid-section, her silky fur against his palm sent chills down his spine. Krystal took his other paw in hers and slowly began to move about the floor leading Fox in a small dance but, unsure of his footing Fox looked to his feet only only to have Krystal pull his gaze back up into her azure eyes. She smiled for a moment before continuing to lead Fox in the awkward dance until the movements became familiar to him..
"Where did you learn to dance like this?" Fox suddenly asked.
Krystal chuckled a bit, "Impressed? Katt showed me some things that she thought I should know while you were gone today."
"It took you one day to learn this?" Fox asked.
"No...It only took about an hour...I've always been a fast learner."
Fox laughed lightly to himself before smiling at the blue vixen, "You are amazing you know that?"
The vixen smiled brightly and slowly moved closer to Fox until the two found themselves locked in a soft kiss...in that instant everything they'd been talking about had been completely removed from his mind. Anything beyond now could have cone horribly wrong and it wouldn't have mattered, his night was already complete. As soon as they broke their embrace Krystal lay her head against Fox's chest, wrapping her arms around his thick chest while their feet kept moving in accordance to their dance. Fox followed in step wrapping his own arms around Krystal,taking in her sent as he held her as close as he possibly could...
"Fox..." She whispered softly.
"Yeah..."
"I'm glad we did this." Krystal replied.
Fox began to lightly stroke her long, blue hair, "So am I."
Fox had no idea how much time was passing, nor did he really care, he was in the only place he cared to be in at the time. As time passed he found that his eyes had fallen shut and all sense of time had been lost, soon enough the two made their way back to their table. Their meals had been served and surprisingly their food was still hot. Though it was a lot easier on Fox's nerves now that he'd managed to relax a bit, he still had a hard time looking away from the cerulean furred vixen across from him. She seemed to take rather delicate sized bites of her food...she didn't seem to notice that Fox paid no attention to his own dinner, rather his only point of interest...was her. For the longest time he simply sat there taking small, random bites of his food...studying the face of the blue furred angel in front of him. As he studied her face she finally raised her eyes toward him and noticed his intense study of her. She swallowed the bite of food she'd been chewing and smiled a small bit...
"What? Is there something on my face?" She giggled.
Fox lightly shook his head, "No...just thinking."
"About what?" She asked.
Fox sighed a bit before smiling back at her, "You."
Krystal's face instantly burned with embarrassment as she bit her lip and looked toward her table...she had no reply for such talk, she could only sit there and blush madly while trying to think of something to say. Instead she simply smiled brightly at him before going back to her food. After the two had finished eating Fox looked across to Krystal who yawned heavily while stretching her back.
"Tired?" Fox asked.
Krystal smiled a bit, "A little...I'm usually in bed by now."
Fox sighed a bit, "Yeah...me too. Let's get back to the cottage."
On their way out the door Fox left the pay for their meal with Charles. They then slowly made their way to their vehicle. As they did so Krystal yawned again before bursting into laughter as Fox plucked her up off the ground, carrying her bridal style toward their car. The motion had at first taken her by surprise but, she soon reached her arms around Fox's neck resting her head on his shoulder. It wasn't a particularly long walk to the vehicle that Fox had rented but, before he managed to get there, the blue vixen's breathing had developed into a very quiet snore that he could only just hear. He smiled a bit as he set her into her seat on the passenger side of their ride, before moving to the driver's side, yawning a bit himself before finally starting the vehicle and making his way back to their cottage.
The pink furred feline still sat on the patio of her own cottage with Falco laying in the lounge chair next to her, his beak hanging open producing a loud snore, with a magazine hover his eyes. Katt couldn't help but to smile as she shook her head at the blue falcon. He may have said otherwise but, in truth he never really could handle much in the sense of drinks. As she sat there she could hear the sound of the hover car that Fox had rented. She looked away from the book she'd been reading under the light from overhead, to see Fox carrying and exhausted blue vixen into the cottage across the way from them. She smiled brightly at the two before placing a bookmark into her book and shutting it. She smiled again before reaching over and giving the sleeping avian next to her a light shove causing him to roll off of his chair landing with a painful thud, the bird groggily opened his eyes...
"Wh-wh-what....what the hell happen?" He asked.
"You fell off your chair dumbass." Katt chuckled, "Come on..lets go back inside it's getting cold out here."